Trouble in Orion's Belt; A Stellar Journey
Chapter 6: The Maelstrom

The next evening the valiant explorers continued their daily task at the beginning of the second week of the expedition. Simon Balkan and his associate Jean Mahomet were walking away from their carryall toward the mound structure. Simon had a spotlight mounted to his chest for lighting and Jean had his electro-notepad in hand while Weatherby the robot weather tracking device followed close behind.

“Jean?” Simon said as he motioned for Jean to come closer.

“Your notepad is set to record images so let’s get some good video on our approach. It should give us some interesting details for future illustration.”

Jean lifted the device to the height of his chest until he had the mound’s black and white image framed within the edges of the screen. He braced his elbows on his ribs for stability and tilted the screen at an optimal angle and proceeded toward the mound. At the distance of the approach the mound looked like the swirl of ice cream atop a cone but with a domed top. The equally spaced niches added to the illusion that soon became apparent that they were openings for internal ramped passageways to the next level.

“Okay Jean,” Simon said as they approached the entrance. “We have been so busy mapping and plotting the outer structure we didn’t have time to explore the inside. We should go as close to the top as we can and continue filming.”

“Yes, I was thinking that as well.”

Simon turned on the spotlight mounted on his chest and they stepped into the passageway. The ramp arched upward in a conch shell like pattern. The opening at the other end revealed the blue light of Clotho and they proceeded with added enthusiasm.

On the next tier they found more of the moss like substance that was found on the ground level. They also found themselves on an earthen walkway that was bordered by a curved topped wall to the outside that helped form the curved wall to the ground and the wall to the next level on the inside. They noticed a slightly cooled breeze blowing and Weatherby’s front plate lit up with tiny yellow flashing lights accompanied by light tweeting sounds.

“Hmmm? This could be trouble,” Simon remarked. “Weatherby?”

“Yes, Dr. Balkan.”

“What is the weather outlook for this evening?”

“There is a lightening thunderstorm forming about one-hundred miles to the northwest but it is too early to determine its directional patterns.”

“Thank you Weatherby.”

“You’re welcome Dr. Balkan. I will keep you posted on the developments.”

“This will be an interesting evening,” Jean remarked.

“Indeed it will be my friend; indeed it will.”

There was no need to disturb the moss save for more pictures. They continued upward to the next tier level and found more of the same except: “The mosses seem to be getting thicker the higher we go,” Jean noted.

“The clouds are also getting thicker as time goes on,” Simon reported, “and the wind is picking up a bit as well.”

They were almost to the fifth tier when they heard a rumble. The blue light of Clotho was also looking dimmer.

“Dr. Balkan,” Weatherby said, “the weather disturbance is approximately twenty minutes away.”

“Hmmm,” Simon moaned and then took a deep breath. “The weather is developing faster than we anticipated.”

The two men breathed in the recognizable scent of ozone after a distinctive rumble and they looked at each other for a moment.

“I think we should call Richard,” Jean finally suggested.

“Yes, I agree it looks as though we’re in for a downpour.”

Jean activated the communication device.

“Richard, how does the weather look at the other site?”

“This is Dave; Richard is being hoisted down at the moment,” Dave’s face appeared on the screen. “A little breezy and a little cooler but otherwise the air is normal.”

“We are going to stow our exposed gear and head back to the compound. We are definitely about to experience a major downpour.”

“Okay Jean I’ll pass that along to Richard when he settles at the bottom of the cell. Have a safe trip home and we will see you when we get back.”

“Okay Dave we will notify you at the time of our arrival.” Jean’s face faded from the screen.

Dave looked down along the cables of the hoist to see Richard approximately three quarters of the way to the bottom with Jul following close behind. He looked over his shoulder to see Brad looking down as well.

“Well, Dave one of us needs to stay topside while one of us goes down with Richard. I think it’ll be a good idea for me to go down there to see where that organic smell is coming from.”

“So that is what that is? The smell is fairly pungent at times which is probably why you feel that it’s organic.”

“Yes it has some definite organic qualities to it; kind of like fermentation.”

“Now that you mention it, it does at that. So you’re the logical choice Doctor.”

Brad glared back for a moment and scowled

“Don’t ever call me ‘Doctor’ Victor Frankenstein was a ‘Doctor’ and I am a scientist; there is a big difference. So just call me Brad.”

“What ever you say ‘Brad;’ after Richard releases himself from the gear we’ll reel it up and set you up in the harness.”

After a few moments the radio sounded: “Okay I’m down. You may lift the harness back up,” it was the clear sound of Richard’s voice.

The two men looked down to see Richard looking back up and Jul was just about to touch down. Dave reversed the hoist and the spool hummed and it collected the cable.

Shortly the harness was within reach and Brad stepped in and adjusted the straps to fit. Dave set the devise and Brad was lifted up then the boom swung out and Brad was above the cell. He was moving downward as Jul released her harness and it went reeling upward.

“See you later Brad I’ll keep in touch while you guys are down there.”

“Okay we’ll see you when we get back.”

In a few minutes Brad was at the bottom of the cell and his feet dug into a black substance on the floor and he released the harness. As soon as he was clear the harness whisked upward. He stood there for a moment looking down. The substance looked sort of like a black sand but different somehow. He got down on one knee and dug into it with his fingers and lifted a handful. He reached into his backpack and got a plastic container from one of the pockets. He sifted the substance from his hand until the container was full then he screwed on the lid. He held it up in the spotlight and examined it.

“It’s living material alright,” he said.

“That’s a pretty quick observation,” said Richard, who was standing close by.

“Well it appears to be some kind of vegetation but we’ll have to get it back to the lab to get a closer observation.”

“So what do you think it is,” Jul asked thoughtfully.

“Just as I said before there’s no way of knowing for sure but if you look at it like this;” he rotated the container horizontally; “you’ll see the texture of the grain which suggests that it may be vegetation. However it also appears to have some animal-like characteristics as well.”

“So, why are we walking on them? Aren’t we crushing them?” She was almost frantic.

“Calm down kid, I’ll show you something.”

He scrapped some of the substance off the bottom of his shoe. He sprinkled the granules onto her hand.

She looked at the individual grains carefully.

“Well they do look intact but how do we really know?”

“Well Jul we have just discovered this life-form and it isn’t fair to make any snap decisions on what they are but from experience I’d say they have a hard outer shell.”

“Do you mean like a walnut?”

“Yes and if it turns out to be an animal; sort of like a crustacean.”

“So how is that not a snap decision?”

“The moment I landed I noticed the crunchy sound; like walking on coarse sand. Now let’s catch up with your father he’s over there studying the structural characteristics.”

They walked over to Richard who was measuring a structure that looked like a boxed in area from afar. When they were next to it however they noticed it was the entrance to a tunnel that went straight down. The walls formed a six foot barrier between them and what looked like a bottomless pit.”

“Oh what have we here?” Brad asked.

“Well it’s either some kind of vent or an access shaft.”

“Hmmm? Interesting,” Brad thought out loud.

“There must be at least a hundred of these things.” They could be seen in either in either direction on both facing walls that stretched into the distance lighted by openings like the one they lowered into earlier until they completely faded in the distance.”

“What do you think these are; Dad?”

“Well at this juncture I’d say they are access shafts which appear to go deep into the planet which may serve a duel purpose as vents. And I think those globules in the corners are the creature’s variation of a ladder to help them climb.”

“Well I’ll have to agree; they certainly appear that way,” Brad said.

“Don’t be surprised if we have visitors by the end of the week,” Richard said.

“You mean our hosts may introduce themselves; ‘remember’ we are the visitors,” Brad reminded.

“Yes, I stand corrected. We are in something that carries a great deal of importance to the creatures. What ever this is and whatever they are?”

“I’d say either a grain elevator or a cultivation center.”

“Brad you have a talent for simplicity. There’s no doubt that it’s something of the sort.”

At that time a large drop of rain plopped where they were standing. They all looked up through the cell to a dimming sky and noticed a dampening in the air; which was noticeably cooler.

“Wouldn’t you know it; we just get started . . .” Richard stopped short and engaged communication.

“Dave, what does it look like up there?”

“Not good! The storm is coming in fast and I was just about to call you.”

“That’s okay, Dave just get the hoist ready; we’re coming up.”

“Aye, aye skipper,” Dave said trying to sound like a pirate.

Jul chuckled as they anticipated the harnesses being lowered.

“What is that clicking noise?” Brad said sounding a little startled.

“What? I don’t hear anything,” denied Richard.

“Shush, just listen,” Brad said with his hand to his ear.

They all listened as the clicking noise seemed to be even closer.

“Yes, I hear it now,” acknowledged Richard.

“What is it?” Jul asked in a startled tone.

“We have no way of knowing at this point,” Richard said dubiously.

The two harnesses whirred within reach and the natural light vanished. They stood there in the spotlight and stared into the darkness.

“We’d better get moving,” Richard urged, “you two first; I’ll wait for the hoist.”

“Oh, no! I’m going up with you dad.”

“Okay, dear, but stay close by me, okay.”

He hugged him tightly around the ribs.

“We’re in this together and I’m not going up without you.”

Richard squeezed her shoulder and called up to Dave.

“Just pull up the hoist on the right, Dave. Jul and I will wait.”

“Whatever you say Richard; are you ready Brad?”

“Ready!”

The harness with Brad whisked upward.

“The clicking sound is coming from the portals,” Richard remarked.

And at that time lightning flashed lighting the chamber momentarily.

“Daddy! I’m scared,” she buried her face in the side of his ribs.

He stroked her dark hair. “It’s okay dear I’ll only be a minute.”